Horses?

[purplepolly]

You don't ever see horse riders going through red lights or along pavements do you.

the err evidence on the local pavements would suggest otherwise, and they can't have just shovelled it there off the road because it's also often deposited on a local footbridge running alongside a road and separated by a high fence.

 

[bonj2]

The roads were tarmaced for bicycles and tricycles I think you'll find. If you look it up.

very rare was a road tarmacced before cars were invented.
Before cars were invented, the main road user was the horse so they wouldn't have tarmacced a road if the main user of the road didn't want it doing.

 

[bonj2]

Do you reserve this behaviour for the ones that are being ridden, or any horses you might happen across?

well if they're on the road and HAVEN'T got a rider on them they want shooting. (Which imho, they do anyway, but still...)

 

[HJ]

The road as we know it today IS the tarmac. There may have been a dirt track running along the same route in olden times, but that tarmac was paid for out of road tax. Which was paid by motor vehicle owners.
You can say what you like about "central pots" and what not but the fact remains that road tax needs to be charged because of the cost of tarmac, and it is related to emissions which is something that is easy to measure while also being roughly proportional to the damage done to the road.

What is this "road tax" which you keep going on about? The last hypothecated road taxation in Britain was abolished by Winston Churchill, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in 1936. VED has nothing to do with the cost of maintaining the road system...

 

[tdr1nka]

Before cars were invented, the main road user was the horse so they wouldn't have tarmacced a road if the main user of the road didn't want it doing.

But with horses unable to talk no one actually knew of their opinion until humans started scaring them with their nasty cars and the like!

Cars are sh*te, bikes are great and horses are brilliant!!

 

[HJ]

very rare was a road tarmacced before cars were invented.
Before cars were invented, the main road user was the horse so they wouldn't have tarmacced a road if the main user of the road didn't want it doing.

John Loudon McAdam, who invented the the McAdam system of road building to which you refer, died in 1836, thirty one years before Karl Benz invented the car. There is much that is flawed in your logic...

 

[tdr1nka]

There is much that is flawed in your logic...

To consider it logic is pretty flawed in it's self...............

 

[bonj2]

What is this "road tax" which you keep going on about? The last hypothecated road taxation in Britain was abolished by Winston Churchill, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in 1936. VED has nothing to do with the cost of maintaining the road system...

The annual license fee that vehicle owners pay in order to obtain a tax disc. i.e., a tax, that is imposed for using the road. Not really hard to understand, is it?

 

[bonj2]

But with horses unable to talk no one actually knew of their opinion until humans started scaring them with their nasty cars and the like!

Cars are sh*te, bikes are great and horses are brilliant!!

Horses aren't good on tarmac. Ask any horse user.
That's why they can only walk on tarmac but they can gallop on soft ground.

 

[bonj2]

John Loudon McAdam, who invented the the McAdam system of road building to which you refer, died in 1836, thirty one years before Karl Benz invented the car. There is much that is flawed in your logic...

And?
a) What's 'mcadam system of road building' (to which I havent' referred, incidentally) got to do with it,

:?: Even if most roads were tarmacced before the invention of cars, which they weren't, then what difference would that make to who pays for most of the tarmac that gets laid down on roads today? i.e. payers of road tax.

 

[KyleB]

We got some abuse from a horse woman today, was just cycling past her fair slow, in the middle of the road, and she went mental at us- f-ing and such like. The horse didn't even seem to be bothered, it was the woman going mental-- which probably would have scared the horse even more than two cyclists going past it....

Are horses scared of people on bikes?

 

[KyleB]

and to add something to your argument, most cyclists have cars and already pay road tax.

I don't pay road tax and thus I don't pollute the environment as much as car users do.

 

[very-near]

Horses aren't good on tarmac. Ask any horse user.
That's why they can only walk on tarmac but they can gallop on soft ground.

If the horses are being ridden on the road, the farrier uses 'road nails' which stand proud of the shoe and give more grip on the road. Alternatively, they can use Road studs.

Road Studs are generally used on hard surfaces, such as roads or very hard ground. They are usually 4 or 6-sided, small and flat in size and blunt. Road Studs can be used on front or back shoes and can be postioned on the inside or the outside of the shoe. Whenever possible, we reccommend using road studs on the inside of the shoe because your horse is less likely to injure himself if he catches the stud on his other leg. This type of stud can be used most of the time, unless the ground is very muddy or slippery. We recommend that beginner users first start out with Road Studs because your horse may move differently. Also young horses and horses who have never been ridden with studs should be started with Road Studs so they can get used to the difference in traction.
http://www.studsandstuff.com/typesofstuds.html

If the horse is unshod, then the hoof does actually offer a lot of grip on tarmac.

Horses can canter or gallop on any surface, but are not encouraged to do so on a tarmac surface as it is hard on the joints and will bruise the feet if done for extended periods.

 

[very-near]

We got some abuse from a horse woman today, was just cycling past her fair slow, in the middle of the road, and she went mental at us- f-ing and such like. The horse didn't even seem to be bothered, it was the woman going mental-- which probably would have scared the horse even more than two cyclists going past it....

Are horses scared of people on bikes?

They can be extremely so if they don't hear you coming. Best to call out and slow down a bit if you are approaching from behind to let the horse know you are there.

 

[HJ]

The annual license fee that vehicle owners pay in order to obtain a tax disc. i.e., a tax, that is imposed for using the road. Not really hard to understand, is it?

It is not a tax which is hypothecated to roads (you might want to look up the word hypothecated in a dictionary). There is a zero rate band which applies to owners of vehicle which emitting less than 135g CO2 per km, this is the band which horse and cyclist fit into...